VW TDI vs Honda HX MPG & Cost of Maintenance

tankboy

New member
Joined
Jan 28, 2002
Location
Yorkville, IL
Hi,

New to the forum. I am an insurance agent and my sister is an examiner for the state. We live in Illinois. Both looking for an economical car that gives great mileage. What is the opinion between the Golf TDI vs the Honda Civic HX? I, myself, is interested in a Jetta Wagon TDI.

Has anyone ever broke down side by side comparision between a car like the HX versus a TDI in terms of oil, filter, service, timing belts, and fuel? Thank you in advance.

Jim
 

GoFaster

Moderator at Large
Joined
Jun 16, 1999
Location
Brampton, Ontario, Canada
TDI
2006 Jetta TDI
I'm not familiar with the Civic HX, I don't believe that we get it here.

VW's in general tend to have more silly little things go wrong that don't seem to happen on Hondas, but countering that, I've not had anything out of the ordinary go wrong with mine.

The Honda's fuel consumption ratings are good but not quite the equal of a TDI, and in this particular area, diesel fuel is less expensive than gasoline, so the TDI will still cost less to feed.

VW costs more initially, but compare features, and slam the doors on both vehicles, and you'll find out why. A Civic and a Jetta may be comparable in size, but not in many other areas.

I'd strongly urge a test-drive of both vehicles. The TDI has abundant mid-range torque that may be lacking in the Civic.
 

george303

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 5, 2001
Location
Baltimore, MD
TDI
Bora GLS, 2002, Jazz blue black leather
I will be honest, since especialy both the honda and VW group are my favourite Car manufacuturers

The reason why I chose the VW TDI over the civic was:
The TDI is simply more appealing to me, more power(much), fun to drive, different, and of course economic.
I would also say that VW makes far more luxurious and safe cars
VW's have 4 disc brakes, Anti-lock(only civic EX has), full sunroof(honda has moon), Leather seats, heated seats, awesome red lit interior(go to the dealer and testdrive at night!!!), 6 airbags(front, Side, and ones that come out of the chair), side airbags are a 500$ option on honda, antitheft alarm
great cupholders too

Like many have said VW builds a driver's car.

Honda builds great machines, but they dont build a diesel, I have owned my TDI for 4 months, and all I want is more.

Honestly, if Honda had made the new Civic hatchback with their 1.7TDI, I probably would have bought it.

Because their is one thing honda is great for, their reputation of building incredibly durable vehicles and engines.
 

Diesel-Bear

Veteran Member
Joined
Dec 25, 2000
Location
Denmark
Originally posted by george303:
Because their is one thing honda is great for, their reputation of building incredibly durable vehicles and engines.
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I have the exact opposite experiance. Maybe this has to do with the age of the car.

I owned a Honad Accord and an Audi 80 (same platform as mrk III Golf) simultaniously. We sold both when the Audi was 9 Years old and the Honda 6. By then the Honda was worn down way more than our Audi even though the Audi had driven much further (100.000+ Miles and still on original exhaust :).

Indications of wear was stuff like seat-upholstery (spelled wrong?), Knobs, switches and rattles.

Structualy, the Rust was significantly worse on the Honda than on the Audi. But then, I live in af climate known as worst rust-conditions in Europe.

Bottom line: If You keep Your cars 3 years or less, go with whatever car pleases your fancy and purse. If You plan on a longer relationship: Go TDI !
 
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